“We could see he was going to be real good in exhibition and training camp. [The third game of his rookie year] ... we played Milwaukee in Chicago. And Milwaukee had just owned Chicago for several years. We never beat them. Don Nelson was coaching there and he had [Sidney] Moncrief and [Paul] Pressey and that group of players and he put everybody in the gym on Michael. Triple-teamed him late in the ballgame and the guy still made all the shots and won the ballgame for us.

“It was unbelievable what the guy did. And Nelson at that time was one of the best defensive coaches in the league and couldn’t stop him. You could see the guy was going to be a special player.” ROD THORN - 76ers president (drafted Jordan as Bulls GM in 1984)

Jordan VS Bryant - What's the difference?

Kobe VS Michael - What's the difference?

Kobe Bryant vs Michael Jordan The Best vs The Best

Michael Jordan - Jordan was a shooting guard who was also capable of playing small forward (the position he would primarily play during his second comeback with the Washington Wizards). Jordan was known throughout his career for being a strong clutch performer. He decided numerous games with last-second plays (e.g., The Shot) and performed at a high level even under adverse circumstances (e.g., Flu Game). His competitiveness was visible in his prolific trash-talk[81] and well-known work ethic.

Jordan had a versatile offensive game. He was capable of aggressively slashing to the basket and drawing fouls from his opponents at a high rate; his 8,772 free throw attempts are the ninth highest total of all time. As his career progressed, Jordan also developed the ability to post up his opponents and score with his trademark fadeaway jumpshot, using his leaping ability to "fade away" from block attempts. According to Hubie Brown, this move alone made him nearly unstoppable.[85] Despite media criticism as a "selfish" player early in his career, Jordan's 5.3 assists per game also indicate his willingness to defer to his teammates. In later years, the NBA shortened its three-point line to 22 feet (from 23 feet, 9 inches), which coupled with Jordan's extended shooting range to make him a long-range threat as well -- his 3-point stroke developed from a low 9 / 52 rate (.173) in his rookie year into a stellar 111 / 260 (.427) shooter in the 1995--96 season. For a guard, Jordan was also a good rebounder (6.2 per game).

On defense, Jordan's contributions were equally impressive. In 1988, he was honored with the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first NBA player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards in a career (since equaled by Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Kevin Garnett; only Olajuwon also won both during the same season). In addition he set records for blocked shots by a guard, and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player. His 2,514 steals are the second highest total of all-time behind John Stockton, while his steals per game average is third all-time. Jerry West often stated that he was more impressed with Jordan's defensive contributions than his offensive ones.